Rannveig and her Sisters
by RannveigedRaven
Summary: The sound of bones' cracking cut her ear as the sharpest knife. Scream vanished in the horde of them. Capillaries in her eyes burst with blood so violent, that it felt she will cry with red tears while living through that agony. Oh, the poor heart of her, beating with such a hilarious will to live. Rannveig. That name stuck inside my throat, but I couldn't say a word. My queen...
1. Shandorna

All that I remember is fire. It was so bright and high that I thought it covered the sky above my head. I still see it though there is only darkness around me. Shadows have got denser, it felt like they were crying and weeping upon me. I can't feel my body. It is numb and weak, under cover of the night's blanket. Where are the night beasts to eat me up? Or someone to save me and drive to the hospital? How ironic, I am lying here, in the dark forest and waiting for the car to take me away. I closed my eyes. It was so painful to wait for something in dreadful silence of the ancient forest. I guess I am sleeping or dying. Nothing matters, I just don't want to think about it.

It was water, clean and sonorous. The body of it stroke me like decuman wave. I jerked up and inhaled, as people who swallowed water while sinking. Eyes were shifting. A small house, dry and neat, everywhere there were small pots and hanging herbs. A soft light made its way through the thatched roof, falling on a wooden table, on which stood some dark glass bottles and glasses of horns.

"Finally," I heard a man's voice behind me. ''You did not wake up almost a day, they asked me to try. Thanks, All-Father, you are here.

I turned round sharply and saw in front of me a short man, slightly stooped, but obviously not so old. His skin was like the color of red clay, smiling black eyes looked at me with amusement, a crooked mouth appeared in a smile. His hair was long and gathered into a tight braid, from which again and again a curly curl got out.

''I, I'm sorry, I ... '' I tried to answer something, examining my companion along the way. By chance, my eyes fell on his legs, where instead of human ones I found goats. Just like fauns in Greek myths. The gift of speech was gone by itself. I swallowed helplessly, trying to squeeze something out of myself, but it didn't work.

''Oh, All-Looking Galn!'' the creature threw up his hands. ''Sorry, I did not realize something! Do not be alarmed, my dear, I will not harm you.''

Embarrassedly, he went to the table.

"I didn't want, my lady," the faun or something similar to him began confusingly. - Apparently, Lady Shandorna wanted to show you immediately... I am so ashamed.

He spread his hands, smiling awkwardly. I tried not to seem rude and at the same time could not compare the events of the previous night with the situation that happened now.

''Where am I?'' a little breath, I said.

"On an island without a name that lies on the great Tiernan River, where the Queen of Shadows reigns, my lady," said the faun. "I'm Regis, the doctor."

He scratched his head and smiled. Honestly, it sounded loud, but I had no idea what that place was. No names, no such queens.

"One of our guys found you on a night hunt," Regis said. "And I tried to revive you all night, my lady." Well, okay. take care, maybe we will have a pint later... My lady is waiting for you. Go to the house, the largest, with a door painted with blue, you can not go wrong.

He looked at me expectantly. Apparently, I have not had the right to ask questions. I got up and timidly went to the door, looked around at last. The shed was quite small: a table and a couple of chairs, a fireplace without a fire, and a couch. There was still a bunch of baskets with all kinds of food and herbs, fresh or completely dry. I nodded to my new friend goodbye and went outside.

The light hit my eyes. I covered eyes with my hand, squinting. Around there were small, hastily cobbled wooden houses with thatched roofs. Children were running around the streets playing some strange, only known to them game, the adults were busy with their own business: who wove baskets, who wore a vegetable garden, who chatted for a frothy foam or something stronger. But I noticed that inadvertently, every now and then, one of them, but threw a sidelong glance in my direction. I found the building I needed without any problems: it was a longhouse, similar to the Viking halls for peers from books, and its door was ineptly painted blue. I approached, listened. What was the conversation - is unclear. Mumbling, and only. I sighed, timidly pushed the door.

Twilight reigned inside, the silhouettes of people and nonhumans calmly drank to themselves, there were almost no dishes on the tables, I would say poor things. Various torn banners hung from the ceiling beams. In the depths of the hall, a woman sat on a carved wooden resemblance of a throne. From a distance, it was impossible to see what she represents. I could only understand that she is slim.

I was distracted from my thoughts by the low voice of a woman, ingratiating and somehow familiar to me:

''With awakening! '' she said. ''I'm glad you can stand on your feet. Come here.''

The one who sat on the throne leaned forward slightly and beckoned to her hand. I did not dare to disobey.

''How wonderful. Our father was right when he told me that there is no one better than a child from the woman of Earth who could cope with the role of the Queen,'' she said.

I didn't quite understand what the woman was saying, but I was finally able to see her in the dark. Tall and slender, she sat so naturally in her improvised throne, no pathos, no flaws. Light leather armor clung to her thin, thin body. Almost round eyes the color of amethyst with cat's pupils. Facial features are sharp as if carved from a rough solid stone. Leather the color of silver, as if gently glowing in the shadows, hair, long and white, like cirrus clouds, were collected in a high tail. There was a pile of earrings on her ears: from carnations to small rings. In a word, like a character, like from legends.

"I greet you at Fuschax," she finally interrupted my reverie. "My sweet Runnweig."

"Sorry, but this is not my name," I replied unluckily.

The woman smiled.

''Well, what's your name then? '' on her sharp face the same sharp smile appeared.

"Um," I don't know why, but I hesitated. How funny it would not sound, but it seems I really forgot how my parents called me.

Shandorna, or whatever her name was as if she knew that I would not answer. For some reason, the name didn't bother me right now. I felt like a magnet for this woman. She was neither old nor young. For a magical being, it didn't look so exotic, but something in it gave something formidable, powerful, I would even say that its body was too small for such power that I felt.

'' Fascinating power? '' as if she read my thoughts. "Few feel her, even the three Great Queens, my sweet Runnweig."

A spark flashed in her eyes.

''I, apparently, did not know a bit what was going on here, could you ...''

''To clarify?'' Surprised Shandorna, theatrical arched own thin eyebrows. "I thought the father told you everything a long time ago."

''What? '' I asked irritably.

''Well, of course ''she apparently was a little disappointed. '' I went out onto the rocks, bent hunchbacked, and my cry shook the heavens,..''

"... That brother called out to the brother's slaughter to snatch his brother's eyes," I finished, somewhat bewildered.

I knew exactly this song, my father often sang it to me before going to bed or just how the occasion would turn up.

'' And here you and this ballad?'' Ahead of the question, Shandorna spoke again. '' The thing is that your father, as well as mine, and all the reigning queens in this world is the great ruler of Time and Winner of the Ancient Gods. The immortal king Muskrat, Harrad. And you - Rannveig, which means the keeper of fire.''

I was somewhat taken aback. What does all of this mean? What is king? What ... what?

"Look, girl, maybe you will understand," with these words, the woman, like sand, oozing through her fingers, crumbled in the shadows. After a moment, I heard the clacking of the earrings from behind my back. She turned round sharply, saw the already familiar long face.

"I am Shandorna, Queen of the Shadow, and I greet you again." Sit down, my dear Rannweig. You have been waiting here for a long time. I would say almost forever. Now I will try to explain everything to you.

I flopped helplessly into a chair. I had no words to say.


	2. Nameless Shadow

"In those days when everything around was darkness, and then there was neither flesh nor thought, the ancient gods of air were born out of darkness. They gave birth to the Gods of water, they created the gods of the Earth, and the goddess of Fire became their common child. Then created nameless lands and peoples inhabiting them: Baggeins, who lived among the trees and sang the beauty of the forests; the elves of darkness who guarded the peace of the world at night, and for days protected others from the darkness; the sky elves who were given magic; fairies and pixies who guarded the black swamps; centaurs who settled near the Fortress without the castle of the goddess of Fire; the dwarves who served her; Giants who forged the gods for crowns and thrones in the vents of volcanoes and people: the people of Ondatras that lived in the green valleys by the sea, and the people of Birds that flew high and lived in the rocks.

The Lord of Ondatras was the son of the goddess of Fire and one of the gods of the Earth, his name is Harrad. Over those that were born by the gods of Water and Air, Vogel, the King of Birds, dominated. That world knew neither grief nor death. Then, from the darkness that gave birth to the gods, the essence that was different from ewas born. That was death imprisoned in a fish. And she swam in deep pools, waiting in the wings. At the same time, the Time entered into the body of an ancient elder came out of the original darkness. It always had a book with it that talked about a way to release a great power, which could defeat even the great Gods.

Harrad lured on to become the first among equals, and swore his blood and his family. He could achieve that power only by killing Vogel.

And Harrad threw a cry among the salty northern rocks, and the King of Birds appeared on him. Their stone knives flickered, their screams roared, and when Vogel was finally defeated, the Ondatra King scraped his eyes from his skull and burst into tears. The bird's blood mingled with tears of the muskrat and fell to the ground. The world trembled. From that place began to go the water that was black, like the gloom itself. This was the birth of the great river Tirnan, which separates the world of shadow from the physical world. Harrad planted one eye on Vogel on a hook and threw it into the spilled water. He devoured the second eye like an animal. Soon he was lucky, and he caught Death and tasted her sweet flesh. In an instant, the world seemed to die. The sun was no longer warm to the Cursed King. Now he became immortal, which were not The ones that gave birth to him. But he is damned unlike the rest. Now he is eternal, nothing and no one will kill him. And his kind is cursed forever. He can only give birth to daughters, and they will never give him grandchildren. In his eyes now not one pupil, but four in each. And they are doomed to eat each other's eyes, absorbing each other's strengths and each other's madness. Repeating fatherly sins over and over again.

He whirled to the edge of the Birds and kidnapped Vogel's sister. The one that was Sister Bird, became the wife of Ondatra. And she bore from him three daughters, born in one year and one day, all similar and different. The first is Ida, blind and weak, but having absorbed the fullness of her father's madness, the one that devoured her eyes, becoming mortal, but no one was able to kill her. Elaize has three pupils in each of her eyes, she is wiser than life itself, but she always longs for blood and can never deal with this thirst. Deirdre - deer eyes, sad and wet, she is the Lady of Water. They are all first queens.

They grew quickly, grew strong and together with their father raised a cry against the Gods and the Birds. That battle was not an easy one, but the gods were dying, and Muskrat and his daughters were not defeated. Ida enclosed the Birds in deep caves under the ground, making it impossible for them to fly and see the light. The whole family of the Lord of the Birds was turned into a cold stone, and to this day their eyeless figures stand in the Bay of Mount. Then so many people died that there were not enough mothers and daughters in all worlds to mourn. All the Ancient Gods were defeated. And this land became known as Fuschax at the behest of the Ondatra King.

Harrad left this world, creating new and giving birth to more and more daughters, each of which was something divine, so the Queen of forests, the Queen of Beasts, and the Queen of deception, and I, the Queen of Shadows were born ... And you, my dear Rannveig, the keeper of Fire, "said Shandorna, studying me with her snake eyes.

I was not sitting so puzzled, I was, to put it mildly, shocked. In what a mess I found myself, what they want from me, I really could not understand. But Shandorna continued.

"You showed up on time," said Shandorn, more seriously. - Until she was born and did not return to the Fuschax Queen, what she carries with her existence is exhaustible. Look around, we have no fire. No one. Those who have at least a candle, protect this light, if only it did not go out. Fire is more expensive than spices and gold jewelry. People do not get warm in the cold, do not cook their own food, do not burn the bodies of the deceased. You are the same as us. Damned and forever alone, my dear Rannveig.

The woman smiled a little sadly.

''You have to get into the Horn, kindle a flame there, and when the fire starts to flow on the mountain, people will know that you have returned. But in order to get there, you must meet the three Firstborn Queens and get their keys from the entrance to the Mountain. On the way, you will have to rekindle your flame. Reveal your true power. You have eyes, almost like the Father. Only slightly different. You will be one of the strongest. Once. It will be difficult, but ... When there is someone nearby, it will probably be easier. ''

Shandorna waved her hand. A young man came out of the darkness; he looked twenty-five, maybe a little more. He was dressed in black leather armor, holding a long spear in his hand, the tip of which was apparently chipped out of a bone. Behind his back there was a long cloak on which the leaves were embroidered, the hood was pulled back, so I could consider him. Pale as grebe, tall, not very strong looking. The bluish-black straight hair was tucked away into a not very neat tail, reaching him somewhere in the middle of the shoulder blades. The eyes were dark gray, as if burning by some kind of deep flame. A crooked nose, sable eyebrows, high forehead. A part of the face, from the middle of the nose and right up to the hairline, was in black war paint, as if trying to hide a lot of deep and somewhat ugly scars around his eyes, as if someone hastily tried to scrape those eyes with a knife.

"He has no name, no memory, nothing." He will serve you as a companion to the very end. But remember, sooner or later, as my subject, he will have to return home again to the nameless islands that lie on the Great Tirnan River.''

Shandorna straightened. There was a feeling that all this time she slouched a little so that it was not noticeable how tall she was. Truly the Queen. It was felt in it. I gradually began to understand how the laws of this world work.

"When will I have to go?" - somehow suddenly I said boldly.

Oh, I think that tomorrow at dawn. Till this moment I will give you a wash before the road, He will prepare the transport for you, - Shandornna gave a hand to my future companion. "And I must give you a gift that will give you immunity." For some time. Remember, all the Queens are treacherous and deceptive. They all want to devour each other in order to have more power. Anyone can covet the still weak Sister.

The woman took a small dagger out of scabbard fixed with straps on her wrists,

She took a deep breath and held her breath. I did not have time to react, as she had already carefully plunged the blade into her eye socket. The veins on her neck have swollen. She let out a breath and breathed again. The knife slowly moved along the edge of the orbit from right to left. Blood began to ooze. Her free hand fumbled around the table for something to grab. That turned out to be my hand. Her spider fingers, with such force and pain, dug into my wrist that I cried out in surprise and pain. My voice seemed to break off, and nausea rose to my throat. The queen of shadows still carefully and persistently cut out her eye. Every second was like a little eternity. It seemed they were choking me: the pain in my hand was transferred to all the nooks and crannies of my body.

Finally she finished. The grip of her palms opened, and I went limp in the chair on which I sat. She smiled, the beautiful, sharp face was smeared with her own blood, her eyelid, like a rag, crumpled in the place where the ominous blackness was now gaping. Blood dripped on her clothes, bounced off on small metal elements, and the wood of the table with which she stood was absorbed by the spray. There was a feeling that she was crying, and her bloody tears hurriedly ran across her pale face, the color of silver. Her lips quivered as if she was holding back a frantic cry of pain or sobbing. The woman stretched to me smeared in blood, but the whole eye that looked at me so stupid and helpless without its shell.

It was a strange feeling: the desire to devour this eye and that this woman's blood was my blood, but at the same time something weak and human in me pulsed and did not allow me to take the first step towards this world.

I felt a lump fit my throat. But despite my throwing, I did not dare to disobey her. My hand was shaking either from horror, or from an intoxicating desire to devour that eye. I took it and brought it to my face. The glandular smell of blood hit the nostrils. I felt sick even more, but I kept my urge. I timidly put an eye in my mouth. My body shook. And the mind was also brought into a strange state: something on the verge between madness and ecstasy of anticipation. I timidly made a jaw movement. The eye gave way. I heard his wet sniff in my mouth. Chewing was easy and hard at the same time. I felt the optic nerve dangling helplessly as I helped myself to distribute it all in my mouth. Finally, I was able to swallow. But everything immediately tried to break back. I sat down, closing my mouth with my hands, I felt like vomit trying to leave my body, but I was able to overpower myself and swallow what was trying to leave me. My mouth burned with the acidity of what was there literally a couple of seconds ago. Tears came to their own eyes. I could not contain them, no matter how hard I tried. Shandorna looked at me and still smiled, occasionally wiping the blood on her face from where it came from the rag she had taken, apparently she was given it while I was struggling with myself. I bit my lips, but I could not stop. Burst into tears like an idiot. As a human? I do not know why, but it was this association that arose in my head in a fit of hysteria.

"My sweet, sweet Runnweig," said Shandorna gently, leaning toward me. "You are truly the keeper of the fire. See how you shine.''

She handed me some empty bucket or bowl, I timidly took it in hand. The darkness parted. I blinked at the sudden change in coverage. Is it me? From the uneven, but mirror-polished surface of the vessel, I looked at my reflection. Lord, what's wrong with my eyes? One was in perfect order, if I may say so about the iris shining with amber. But the second. It seemed as if it was a plate, broken into uneven four parts, each of which had a small black pupil in the middle of it. The iris was still the same amber. The lips were red with blood, and the skin was pale, with a slight glow. The hair was almost white with barely discernable grayness, like the already burnt coals on the ashes. Some strands closer to my face were wet from my saliva, apparently, when I covered my mouth, they got entangled in my fingers. The clothes that I wore smoldered like leaves from the heat. I looked at my hands. Naughty sparks now ran between my fingers. There was an ugly scar on the chest in the region of the heart: a circle divided into four parts, each of which had a small circle cut out. Now everything was in my head. I was burned alive, but not to kill. And to return to where I should be. In Fuschax, in a place where gods and people walk on the same land.

I heard a soft rustle of clothes from behind. My almost completely exposed body was covered with a raincoat. Thus, a cloak with leaves embroidered on it. It did not flare up or burn out. I turned around. Behind me stood that very nameless youth with his eyes closed. Apparently, I shone so brightly in these shadows that even with my eyes closed my eyelids shone through. Whether it was a gesture of nobility or an order from the Queen of the Shadows, I didn't know.

"Well, my dear Rannveig, I think you should take a rest," I heard Shandorn's insinuating voice again. - Tomorrow you are moving to the steppe. Behind them lie the cities belonging to Deirdre, one of the three First-born sisters, the Queen of the water. She is the most tranquil of all triplets.

I got up, wrapped myself up in a cloak and looked at the woman. Fear has receded somewhere. Apparently, I was ready to travel.


End file.
